About Us
The Farm Roots
San Juan Hop Farms grew out of the desire to make our farm productive once again. The farm, once a winter sheep farm has roots in the area since the late 1890s, the Tri-River Valley agricultural infrastructure was established in the early 1900s with the development of the Gunnison River Project. Not wanting to grow traditional valley crops, we started searching for alternatives. Our green and sustainable life styles focused our attention on bio-fuel crops, but with the lack of regional bio-fuel processing facilities these crops fell short of their potential. Thus our search continued.
The Research and Development Phase
A local radio news program sparked our interest in hops in November of 2007. Extensive research, hands on visits to the northwest hop growing regions and current market demand convinced us to move forward with development of our farm. Rhizomes for our experimental 7500 square foot garden were acquired through fifth generation Idaho hop farms. Garden planting took place the first week of June 2008 and by August 23rd our crop of Chinook and Cascade hops was substantial. After consulting with many lifetime hop farmers, it was determined that the new 10' low trellis technology would be best suited to our climate and the all important phototropic daylight hours needed to successfully grow hops.
Searching for over a year for a new crop to bring the farm back to life, Hops came to the forefront as the current market developed. Extensive hands on research has been done on our own 7500 square foot test garden, yields were very impressive and Hop quality was excellent. Our climate and high desert topography mirror the traditional Hop growing regions of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. With a lot of hard work and the greatly appreciated help and guidance of 5th generation Hop farmers from Idaho to Washington we are certain we can produce high quality Hops for the Craft Brewer and the Home Brew enthusiast.
A Focus On Sustainability
Although we would prefer to have acquired an organic certification, we have decided to focus our energy to create a sustainable farm. The topography of our farm will allow us to harness water for hydro electric power and gravity fed drip irrigation. Our 5500 trellis poles have been butt treated with copper napsenate or "green treat," to extend their in ground life from three to five years to nine or ten. This pole treatment is the only factor preventing us from obtaining an organic certification. We are developing our own in field picking and sorting equipment. We are also developing a natural or slow drying processes to preserve and provide consistent moisture content and lupulin quality. At this point in our farm, development whole hops will be available in 2009, and whole hops and pellets in 2010.
